Payment Aggregator Cross Border:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought under its direct regulation all entities facilitating cross-border payments for import and export of goods and services and termed them Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB).
- Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) facilitates cross-border online payments for the import and export of permissible goods and services.
- The RBI has set a minimum net worth requirement of Rs 15 crore for these entities, which will be categorised as PA-CB.
- They will be accountable for ensuring that they do not facilitate payment transactions for the import of any restricted or prohibited goods and services.
- If the amount involved exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh, the PA-CB must carry out due diligence on the buyer as well.
Payment Aggregator (PA):
- A PA (also known as a merchant aggregator) is a third-party service provider that allows merchants to accept payments from customers by integrating it into their websites or apps.
- It facilitates different types of payment transactions, including cash and cheques, online payments through multiple payment sources, or offline touchpoints.
- It allows merchants to accept bank transfers without setting up a bank-based merchant account. It means a merchant need not have a merchant account directly with the bank.
- A PA in India is incorporated under the Companies Act 2013.
- A PA can be a bank or a non-bank entity.
- Since a PA handles funds, it requires a license from the RBI.
- Only non-bank payment aggregators require unique authorization from the RBI, as ‘handling funds’ is considered a part of the normal banking relationships for bank PAs.
